356 migrants on Ocean Viking rescue ship to disembark in Malta

The 356 migrants stranded on board the OceanViking charity rescue ship will be taken to Malta and then allrelocated to other European countries, the Maltese governmentannounced on Friday.Ocean Viking, operated by the SOS Mediterranee and Doctors WithoutBorders (MSF) charities, was the latest vessel on the Mediterraneanto have been refused port entry, and left stranded for days at seawith rescued migrants on board. "Malta has agreed to be part of the solution in the Ocean Vikingstalemate," a Maltese government statement said.Maltese authorities said they expected the ship to dock at around 11pm (2100 GMT).The migrants will be transferred onto Maltese navy units, taken toMalta and later flown to six other EU member states: France, Germany,Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Romania. "None [of the migrants] will remain in Malta," Maltese Prime MinisterJoseph Muscat tweeted.Germany would "participate significantly together with France," aspokesman for the Interior Ministry said, referring to acceptingmigrants both from the Ocean Viking and the Open Arms rescue vesselthat docked in Italy earlier this week.The ministry said that Germany had agreed to accept 328 migrantsrescued in the Mediterranean since last July, of which 212 were fromthis year. A total of 186 of these migrants rescued from the watershave arrived in Germany so far.  The Spanish ship Open Arms was stranded at sea for three weeks,before being allowed entry to Italy on Wednesday night.The deal to allow the Ocean Viking to dock in Malta was struck"following discussions with the European Commission and a number ofmember states, namely France and Germany," the Maltese governmentsaid.EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos commended Malta andthe EU states that offered to take in the migrants. "Thesecommitments must now be honoured swiftly," he tweeted. French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner wrote on Twitter thathis country would welcome 150 of the 356 rescuees "over the comingdays."The Ocean Viking rescued the migrants, including 103 minors, duringAugust 9-12, meaning that some of them have spent up to 14 days atsea. In the last few days, the ship was positioned between Malta andItaly's Lampedusa island."We are relieved this long ordeal for the 356 people we have on boardis finally over. Was it necessary to impose two weeks of excruciatingwait for rescued people to be disembarked," Jay Berger, anMSF official aboard the vessel, said in a statement."These are people who have fled from desperate circumstances in theirhome countries and suffered horrific abuses in Libya," he added."We are incredibly happy for the 356 migrants," said Jana Cierniochfrom SOS Mediterranee Germany during a press conference in Berlin.She also called for a more "reliable disembarking system" in thefuture.  Florian Westphal from MSF said the current situation under whichevery rescue ship had to find an solution individually was "nottolerable."Malta's announcement came a day after MSF warned that the OceanViking had only five days of standard food supplies left. "Our#medical team is increasingly concerned about a rapid deteriorationin the state of people's mental health," the charity said.Italy's outgoing far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, amigration hardliner, had been instrumental in refusing Italian portentry to the Ocean Viking. "Like we promised, we gave no permission to disembark in Italy forthe 356 immigrants on the Ocean Viking. The safety of Italians comesfirst," Salvini tweeted.Italy is in the middle of a government crisis that may lead to snapelections in late 2019 which Salvini's League party would befavourite to win.